


A Dementor's Love

by dexstarr



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Azkaban, Community: deathly_contest, Dementors, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-26
Updated: 2017-05-26
Packaged: 2018-11-05 04:50:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 247
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11006355
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dexstarr/pseuds/dexstarr
Summary: Barty has been kissed by the Dementors — is he alive or dead?





	A Dementor's Love

**Author's Note:**

> _Harry Potter_ is not mine and no profit is made from this work. Written for the LJ community [deathly_contest](http://deathly-contest.livejournal.com/). Challenge: #1: Life After Death.

He sees white walls, black stone, grey bricks — the color changes when he tries to fixate on it.  
  
He hears the roar of waves, the crack of thunder, the whistle of the wind — the sound too changes.  
  
Sometimes he sees figures wrapped in black, their ragged robes dragging along the ground, and thinks himself locked in Azkaban. But then he sees Winky, and is back in his father’s house, trapped in luxury.  
  
He knows he had a father and a mother — for how else would he have been born? — but he can only remember their physical attributes. His father’s black hair. His mother’s blue eyes. He doesn’t know how he felt about them. Did he love his mother? Did he crave his father’s approval?  
  
There is a vivid brand on his left arm, a fanged snake emerging from a skull, and he knows it is the Dark Lord’s sign. But he can’t recall the pride of earning his mark, or what drove him to join the Death Eaters.  
  
He is an empty shell, a husk of a man.  
  
The greedy hunger of a slack, skeletal mouth had _ripped_ out his soul, sucking it into a long, silvery thread that floated from his body to the waiting Dementor. It hadn’t even hurt to lose his humanity, his emotions, his feelings, his memories.  
  
He knows his name is Bartemius Crouch Jr., and that’s the _only_ thing he’s sure of.  
  
He doesn’t even know if he is alive or dead.

**Author's Note:**

> This fic was originally written in September 2010 and won first place in the weekly contest at [deathly_contest](http://deathly-contest.livejournal.com/).
> 
> Come visit me on [tumblr!](http://galacticcoyote.tumblr.com/)


End file.
